Solar collection assembly and method
A solar collection assembly for collection of incident solar energy and generation of electricity includes a central vertically oriented support column carrying a solar collection assembly of one or more dual faced solar receptor assemblies. Each solar receptor assembly has an upper solar receptor surface and a lower solar receptor surface. A rotatable solar collector reflective assembly surrounds the central vertically oriented support column and is oriented to reflect incident solar energy onto the solar collection assembly. Sails are attached to the outside of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly for additional generation of electricity by rotation of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly from wind energy.
Latest ASM IP Holdings LLC Patents:
This application is cross-referenced to commonly-owned application Ser. No. 14/535,350 filed on Nov. 7, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,391,473.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCHNot applicable.
BACKGROUNDThe present disclosure relates to solar collectors and more particularly to an improved solar collection system.
The amount of energy from the sun that falls on Earth's surface is enormous. All the energy stored in Earth's reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas is matched by the energy from just 20 days of sunshine. Outside Earth's atmosphere, the sun's energy contains about 1,300 watts per square meter. About one-third of this light is reflected back into space, and the atmosphere absorbs some (in part causing winds to blow). By the time it reaches Earth's surface, the energy in sunlight has fallen to about 1,000 watts per square meter at noon on a cloudless day. Averaged over the entire surface of the planet, 24 hours per day for a year, each square meter collects the approximate energy equivalent of almost a barrel of oil each year, or 4.2 kilowatt-hours of energy every day. Deserts, with very dry air and little cloud cover, receive the most sun—more than six kilowatt-hours per day per square meter. Northern climates, such as Boston, get closer to 3.6 kilowatt-hours. Sunlight varies by season as well, with some areas receiving very little sunshine in the winter. Seattle in December, for example, gets only about 0.7 kilowatt-hours per day.
It also should be noted that these figures represent the maximum available solar energy that can be captured and used, but solar collectors capture only a portion of this, depending on their efficiency. For example, a one square meter solar electric panel with an efficiency of 15 percent would produce about one kilowatt-hour of electricity per day in Arizona. Solar collectors are limited by their collection are; thus, making large fields of them necessary for achieving truly commercial scale electrical generation.
The present disclosure addresses this limitation and more.
BRIEF SUMMARYA solar collection assembly for collection of incident solar energy and generation of electricity includes a central vertically oriented support column carrying a solar collection assembly of one or more dual faced solar receptor assemblies. Each solar receptor assembly has an upper solar receptor surface and a lower solar receptor surface. A rotatable solar collector reflective assembly surrounds the central vertically oriented support column and is oriented to reflect incident solar energy onto the solar collection assembly. Sails or wings are attached to the outside of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly for additional generation of electricity by rotation of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly from wind energy.
A method for generating electricity from a solar collection assembly starts with providing the disclosed solar collection assembly. Next, the solar module collection assembly is exposed to solar energy (the sun). The rotatable solar collector reflective assembly also is exposed to wind energy for its rotation for generating electricity. The solar energy generated thereby is One or more of stored or used.
Another solar collection assembly for collection of incident solar energy and generation of electricity includes a central vertically oriented support column carrying a solar collection assembly of one or more dual faced solar receptor assemblies. Each solar receptor assembly has an upper solar receptor surface and a lower solar receptor surface. A holographic solar collector reflective assembly surrounds the central vertically oriented support column and is oriented to reflect incident solar energy onto the solar collection assembly.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the present method and process, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The drawings will be described in greater detail below.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONA feature of the disclosed solar collector assemblies resides in the multi-faceted solar receptors that accept solar energy both on their top surfaces and their lower surfaces; thus, increasing the area upon which solar energy strikes without consuming additional acreage. This is possible by orienting the multi-faceted solar receptors with respect to a parabolic or other designed surface that also reflects the incident solar energy to the lower surfaces of the dual faced solar receptors. Solar energy, then, strikes both the upper surface and the lower surface of the multi-faceted solar receptor assemblies. A uniqueness in design of the disclosed solar module resides additionally in making the parabolic reflector wind rotatable.
The basic components of the solar module are as follows:
A. vertical support column clad with solar receptor;
B. multi-faceted solar receptor assemblies;
C. rotating parabolic solar reflective assembly;
D. optional mesh portal for use with water filtration reservoir;
E. system display; and
F. circuitry, and battery and/or inverter components.
Referring now to
Referring now to
The interior surface of segmented solar collector assembly 18 will be specular so as to reflect solar radiation (dashed arrows in
With a specular lining, the structure supporting the specular lining can be made from a variety of durable materials, such as, for example, concrete, wood, metal, plastic, ceramic, combinations, and the like. Use of a specular lining may make maintenance and replacement of the specular lining, especially with for the use of segments or panels panels, easier and more cost effective. Of course, remote monitoring of the solar collector assembly or more likely an array of solar collector assemblies may find advantage.
In order for segmented solar collector assembly 18 to rotate, some type of wind interference needs to be present. In
Referring now to
Since solar collector assembly 18 will be located in the sun and its interior surface will be specular or made from material providing a specular surface, it is reasonable that solar collector assembly 12 will become hot. Commonly-owned application Ser. No. 14/535,350, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,391,473, addresses the heat issue by proposing to use a fluid conduit(s) formed into the interior of walls forming the solar collector assembly. Running water or other fluid flowing within the fluid conduits remove excess heat. Such fluid conduits could be used in the present design at the expense of adding extra weight.
Electrical leads and electrical circuitry and connections are not illustrated in the drawings, but are to be provided in conventional fashion. Since some configurations of the disclosed solar module will have the parabolic mirror exposed to rain, provision can be made around the juncture of the central column and the mirror to place a mesh for filtering and permitting rain to flow therethrough and into a base reservoir for its collection and reuse. Of course, the disclosed solar module will have a readout display for maintenance and collection of data. Provision of an inverter, battery, and other components for collection of the generated electricity will be provided as needed.
In
While the device and method have been described with reference to various embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope and essence of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. All citations referred herein are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Claims
1. A solar collection assembly for collection of incident solar energy and generation of electricity, which comprises:
- (a) a central vertically oriented support column;
- (b) a solar collection assembly comprising one or more dual faced solar receptor assemblies, each solar receptor assembly having an upper solar receptor surface and a lower solar receptor surface, the solar collection assembly carried by the central vertically oriented support column;
- (c) a rotatable solar collector reflective assembly surrounding the central vertically oriented support column and oriented to reflect incident solar energy onto the solar collection assembly; and
- (d) sails attached to the outside of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly for additional generation of electricity by rotation of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly from wind energy.
2. The solar module collection assembly of claim 1, wherein each solar receptor assembly comprises a wedge-shaped support having an upper surface and a lower surface, each upper and lower surface having a solar receptor affixed thereto.
3. The solar module collection assembly of claim 1, wherein the central vertically oriented support column has solar receptors affixed thereto.
4. The solar module collection assembly of claim 1, wherein each solar receptor is in series, parallel, or a combination electrical connection.
5. The solar module collection assembly of claim 1, wherein the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly is attached to a gear for rotation of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly.
6. An array of solar module collection assemblies of claim 1.
7. A method for generating electricity from a solar collection assembly, which comprises the steps of:
- (A) providing a solar module collection assembly comprising: (a) a central vertically oriented support column; (b) a solar collection assembly comprising one or more dual faced solar receptor assemblies, each solar receptor assembly having an upper solar receptor surface and a lower solar receptor surface, the solar collection assembly carried by the central vertically oriented support column; (c) a solar collector reflective assembly surrounding the central vertically oriented support column and oriented to reflect incident solar energy onto the solar collection assembly; and (d) sails attached to the outside of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly for additional generation of electricity by rotation of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly from wind energy;
- (B) exposing the provided solar module collection assembly to solar energy; and
- (C) exposing the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly to wind energy for its rotation of the rotatable solar collector reflective assembly for generating electricity; and
- (D) one or more of storing or using the solar energy generated thereby.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein each solar receptor assembly is formed from a wedge-shaped support having an upper surface and a lower surface, and affixing a solar receptor to each the upper and lower surface.
9. The method of claim 7, further including the step of affixing solar receptors to the central vertically oriented support column.
10. The method of claim 7, further including the step of electrically connecting each solar receptor in one or more of series, parallel, or a combination.
11. The solar module collection assembly of claim 7, further including the step of providing an array thereof.
3321012 | May 1967 | Hervey |
4074678 | February 21, 1978 | Posnansky |
4353212 | October 12, 1982 | Adler |
4369629 | January 25, 1983 | Lockwood |
4455833 | June 26, 1984 | Tiboldi |
5275643 | January 4, 1994 | Usui |
8710350 | April 29, 2014 | Shufflebotham |
8739533 | June 3, 2014 | Yogev |
20080047270 | February 28, 2008 | Gilbert |
20080150290 | June 26, 2008 | Fein |
20090074577 | March 19, 2009 | Semov |
20090261595 | October 22, 2009 | Poo |
20100183443 | July 22, 2010 | Thorne |
20110089698 | April 21, 2011 | Ahmadi |
20130106193 | May 2, 2013 | Bryson |
20130264829 | October 10, 2013 | Jordan, Sr. |
20140265598 | September 18, 2014 | Isabella |
20150068586 | March 12, 2015 | Willis |
20150130398 | May 14, 2015 | Sanese |
20150308409 | October 29, 2015 | Patel |
20150311858 | October 29, 2015 | Vander Mey |
2574131 | June 1986 | FR |
WO 2015/088370 | June 2015 | UA |
WO 2016/133484 | August 2016 | UA |
Type: Grant
Filed: Dec 30, 2015
Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
Patent Publication Number: 20170194893
Assignee: ASM IP Holdings LLC (Columbus, OH)
Inventors: Christopher N. Sanese (Columbus, OH), Jerry K. Mueller, Jr. (Columbus, OH)
Primary Examiner: Julio C. Gonzalez
Application Number: 14/983,848
International Classification: F03D 9/00 (20160101); H02S 10/12 (20140101); H02J 7/35 (20060101); H01L 31/054 (20140101); H01L 31/05 (20140101); H02S 40/42 (20140101); H02S 40/22 (20140101); F03D 9/25 (20160101);